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GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
EDITORS-IN-CHIEF
                        Hilary Lawson
                        Imran Bayoumi

         DIRECTORS OF WRITTEN COTENT
                         Connor Oke
                         Kristen Pern

             DIRECTOR OF NEWSWATCH
                       Desmond Barton

                DIRECTOR OF PODCAST
                    Luca Bonifacio-Proietto

           DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL DESIGN
                    Melanie Samiento Bravo

         DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
                         Salwa Hakem

    DIGITAL DESIGN AND COMMUNICATIONS
                 ASSOCIATE
                         Megan Goudie

                 ASSOCIATE EDITORS
                         Julia DaSilva
                          Sarah Klein
                      Chanel MacDiarmid

              FEATURE CONTRIBUTORS
            Brittany Barwsie, Katie Bennett, Thomas
           Chan, Fatema Diwan, Sara Duodu, Matthew
Funk, Elizabeth Gallagher, Hannah Loewith, Christie Ma, Rebecca
            Seward-Langdon, Elliot Simpson, Arthur
            Smith-Windsor, Samantha Tristen, Sarah
                            Whelan

            NEWSWATCH CONTRIBUTORS
Jude Asare, Jigme Garwang, Dorottya Szekely, Christian Tramontin

              PODCAST CONTRIBUTORS
              Adam Aber, Brennan Curtis, Sky Shi

                   COVER DESIGN BY
                         Megan Goudie
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
Letter from the Editors-in-Chief

At the start of this year, politicians, journalists, and economists alike predicted
that 2021 would bring about the end of the pandemic for most of the world. In-
stead, an unequal vaccine rollout, economic pressures,emerging security threats,
and new variants of COVID-19 have made 2021 a year of collapse.

We asked our writers to reflect on the theme of collapse as they worked on their
stories for our Fall 2021 issue. The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban underscored
the continuing failure of post-conflict stabilization missions and the enduring
costs of war. Elsewhere, the fragility of global supply chains has exposed some of
the fundamental weaknesses of our current economic system. Around the world,
human rights are under threat as citizens elect unpredictable, authoritarian re-
gimes that are bolstered by unchecked disinformation and conspiracy theories.
And scenes of climate catastrophe dominated the headlines this year, warning of
a future punctuated by floods, fires, food shortages, and crumbling infrastruc-
ture.

While alarming, the collapse of institutions, systems, and ways of life that we
have often taken for granted is not surprising. In many ways, COVID-19 has ac-
celerated existing trends whose foundations were laid well before the pandemic.
The failure by world leaders and policymakers to recognize these trends has no
doubt played a part in determining where we are today.

As you read these stories, we encourage you to imagine how the events and
themes presented in them may impact our future world. In some ways, the de-
struction wrought by collapse offers us the opportunity to leave behind old
systems that brought us to this point. It also offers us the chance to build new
systems that serve us in more equitable and sustainable ways. Please join our
writers in reflecting on the ways theidea of collapse has played out in 2021, and
join the global conversation on how we move forward.

Editors-in-Chief,

Hilary Lawson & Imran Bayoumi
Hilary Lawson & Imran Bayoumi

GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS IS A STUDENT-LED
PUBLICATION AT THE MUNK SCHOOL OF GLOBAL
AFFAIRS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF
TORONTO.
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
INTRODUCTION
  Our fall 2021 edition arrives as the world has slowly started to shift back to nor-
  mal people are back to class, back to work, and back to at least some semblance
  of the lives they had before COVID-19. Over the past semester, we’ve been able
  to enjoy lunch once again with our friends, converse in class, play sports, and
  gather after the day is done.

  Yet, instead of the hopeful recovery we were promised, the world still feels un-
  certain. A new COVID-19 variant threatens to undo much of the progress we’ve
  made. Climate change continues to advance at a rapid pace and international
  meetings like COP26 lead nowhere. Countries such as Afghanistan, Venezuela,
  and Syria have fallen apart. And in the Western world, the cost of living is in-
  creasingly becoming unaffordable for all but the upper strata of society.

  Our fall addition dives headfirst into these feelings of pessimism and insecuri-
  ty. The theme is “collapse.” We asked our writers to investigate the systems that
  are deteriorating,failing, and inadequate for the decade of change ahead. They
  tackled issues ranging from the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban to the failure of
  reconciliation in Canada and the deteriorating American election system.

  But hopefully, by examining the collapses we see around us today, we will emerge
  to the other side with solutions to these pressing problems. As history has
  shown, crises can create opportunity and drive change. The Biden-Harris admin-
  istration can raise the cap on refugees in response to the worsening humanitar-
  ian crises in Afghanistan and Haiti. Canada can rise to the challenge of recon-
  ciliation and play a more prominent role in amplifying the merits of democracy
  worldwide. These are just some of the opportunities discussed in this issue.

  We hope that after reading this edition of Global Conversations, you walk away
  with a better knowledge of the biggest challenges ahead. But we also hope that
  you note that – even in the talk of collapse – that there is a better path forward.
  None of the problems identified in this issue are beyond solving. In this edition
  are fresh solutions developed by the next generation of thinkers. One day, they
  will take us to great places.

  We hope you take their words to heart.

  Directors of Written Content, Connor Oke & Kristen Pearn

4 Global Conversations Fall 2021
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
COLLAPSE
  In this issue...
  American leaves behind a geopolitical mess in              ...         4
  BY MATT FUNK

  Cracks in the foundation: trouble with the American        ...         9
  electoral administration
  BY ELLIOT SIMPSON

  The collapse of global democracy and                       ...         12
  Canada’s role in saving it
  BY THOMAS CHAN

  The great (un)equalizer: The fading illusion of equality    ...        15
  BY SARA DUODU

  Next exit: the great filter                                 ...        18
  BY SARAH WHELAN

  (Un)fair shot: The alarming failure of COVAX               ...         21
  BY FATEMA DIWAN

  The collapse of Haiti and the inadequate                   ...         24
  American response
  BY CHRISTIE MA

  Code green: the COVID-19 waste crisis                       ...        27
  BY BRITTANY BARWISE

  A rise in hate crimes, a decrease in safety                  ...           30
  BY SAMANTHA TRISTEN

  Meta platforms and the threat of digital collapse            ...           33
  BY KATIE BENNET

  The collapse of oil extraction, the rise of green            ...           36
  imperialism, and the perpetual colonial systems
  BY REBECCA SEWARD-LANGDON

  No stock available: The collapse of global supply chains     ...           39
  BY ELIZABETH GALLAGHER

  The collapsing façade of reconciliation                          ...       41
  BY HANNAH LOEWITH

  The collapsing Sino-American relations over Taiwan:              ...       43
  the unintended dangers of “neo-containment” strategy
  BY ARTHUR SMITH-WINDSOR

5 Global Conversations Fall 2021
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
America leaves behind a geopolitical mess
  in Afghanistan
  BY MATTHEW FUNK | GLOBAL SECURITY

  E XACTLY one month following the terror-          After two decades, 2.3 trillion USD spent,
                                                   and countless military and civilian lives lost,
  ist attacks of 9/11, the United States waged its
                                                   America leaves behind a geopolitical mess.
  War on Terror against ‘exporters’ of terror
                                                   While the worst effects will be borne by the
  and governments who supported them. One
                                                   Middle East, a potential resurgence in global
  such target was the Taliban, which controlled
                                                   terrorism and a looming refugee crisis risks
  Afghanistan and harboured al Qaeda, in-
                                                   destabilizing much of the world.
  cluding their leader Osama bin Laden. The
  initial phase of the operation was brief —
  the Taliban were ousted from Afghanistan         THE TALIBAN TAKEOVER:
  within two months — but the ensuing phase HUMANITARIAN IMPLICATIONS
  of reconstruction became a stalemate span-
                                                                                                     PHOTO SOURCE: UNSPLASH, MOHAMMAD RAHMANI
  ning the tenure of four presidents. In April     The Taliban, who spent the past 20 years in
  of 2021, newly inaugurated President Joe         conflict, have now turned to the more mun-
  Biden announced that a full withdrawal of        dane task of governing — something they’re
  American troops from Afghanistan would           woefully unequipped for. The UN estimates
  be completed by the 20-year anniversary of       that by the new year, 97 percent of Afghans
  9/11, putting an end to America’s longest war. could be living in poverty, making Afghani-
  By mid-August, the Taliban descended on          stan a contender for the world’s worst
                                                   humanitarian crisis. Much of the current hu-
  Kabul — the last holdout in their occu-
                                                   manitarian crisis stems from the U.S.’s with-
  pation of Afghanistan — prompting a              holding of aid — nearly three-quarters of
  frenzied American exit eerily similar to         Afghanistan’s GDP (approximately 8.5 billion
  that of Saigon in 1975.                          USD) came from foreign aid.

6 Global Conversations Fall 2021
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
While the U.S. is                             other groups in Afghanistan like Islamic State
                                                         Islamic-Khorasan (ISK) — the group responsible
          relatively insulated                           for the August 26 bombing at the Kabul airport
                                                         — are sworn enemies with the Taliban.
          from Afghanistan’s
         turmoil, the mounting                           As terrorist networks gain a foothold in Afghani-
                                                         stan, this increases the risk of attacks against its
         instability has stoked                          neighbours Iran and Pakistan, as well as to Eu-
                                                         ropean countries like France. Additionally, as
            fear throughout                              jihadist groups from opposing factions converge
          the Middle East, as                            on Afghanistan, the risk of civil war becomes
                                                         increasingly likely.
           well as in Europe.
                                                         Worse still, the spread of violence is likely to
  When the Taliban seized power, the aid flow            worsen the effects of an impending refugee crisis.
  was shut, and separate foreign accounts                Afghanistan’s neighbours Pakistan and Iran have
  worth an additional 9 billion USD were                 both announced that they do not have the capac-
  frozen. Despite early promises that they had           ity to accept any refugees, having taken in nearly
  softened their stance, the Taliban appear              1.5 million and 780,000 asylum seekers, respec-
  to be governing with the same brutality as             tively, in 2020. With only minor commitments
  in their previous power stint, which makes             from the U.S. to settle Afghans who helped the
  Afghanistan’s previous donors reluctant to             American mission, the onus for resettling the
  resume aid in the form of cash transfers. As           refugees will fall largely on Europe. Germany cur-
  the humanitarian crisis worsens, these do-             rently houses over 180,000 Afghan refugees and is
  nors and the Taliban are in a standoff, and            poised to accept another 40,000 this year.
  neither wants to compromise.
                                                         However, Europe is less willing to accept refugees
  The U.S., however, is especially unlikely to deliver   than it was in 2015 amidst the Syrian crisis as they
  funds to the Taliban. While continuing to with-        aim to avoid another populist backlash. With 3.5
  hold aid will cause Afghanistan to descend into        million Afghans internally displaced and the UN
  further chaos, it will also mean that the Taliban’s    estimating 500,000 will leave Afghanistan be-
  grip on power will be short-lived. While the U.S.      tween August and December, it is unclear who
  is relatively insulated from Afghanistan’s turmoil,    will accommodate them. Recently, Europe’s
  the mounting instability has stoked fear through-      migration crisis has been exacerbated by Belarus
  out the Middle East, as well as in Europe.             waging a grey-zone campaign against EU states
                                                         Lithuania and Poland. To stoke instability, Belarus
  IMPLICATIONS FOR THE WIDER                             has been trafficking migrants to the borders and
  REGION                                                 coercing them to cross. A rise in far right demon-
                                                         strations in Poland indicates that this strategy is
  One such fear is that the crisis has provided an       working.
  opportunity for extremist groups to further desta-
  bilize Afghanistan. While the Taliban rules over       A NEW WAY FORWARD
  Afghanistan, the nation’s geography makes it
  nearly impossible to control entirely. This power      While the U.S. now aims to shift its focus else-
  vacuum is likely to cause a migration for terrorist    where, namely towards the South-China Sea, it
  groups, many of which are now calling Afghan-          leaves other countries to inherit its mess. The
  istan “the center of global jihad.” With little to     pattern of chaos that the US has left in its wake
  no prospects for many Afghans to make ends             requires a shift in its interventionist philosophy.
  meet, experts believe that some will be forced         To avoid future fiascos, the US needs to fully
  to join extremist groups in return for financial       adopt the three tenets of the Powell doctrine. The
  relief. Although the new Taliban government has        doctrine, developed by the late Colin Powell, dic-
  demonstrated allegiance to groups like al Qaeda,       tates that military action should only be taken if

7 Global Conversations Fall 2021
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
the following three questions are answered in
  the affirmative: Is a vital national security interest
  threatened? Do we have a clear attainable objec-
  tive, and an exit strategy? Have the risks and                                  MATT FUNK
  costs been fully and frankly analyzed? Afghani-
  stan and prior interventions have arguably had
  negative answers for all three criteria, and cer-
  tainly for the latter two. After failing to adhere to
  the Powell doctrine, America must now observe
                                                           Matt is a first-year student in the Master of Global
  Powell’s Pottery Barn rule: “you break it, you own
                                                           Affairs program at the Munk School, planning on
  it.”
                                                           pursuing specializations in both Global Secu-
  While the U.S. cannot provide financing to a des-        rity and Global Markets. He completed his un-
  potic government like the Taliban, there are other       dergraduate degree at Queen’s University with
  ways it can help the Afghan people. In the imme-         a major in Economics and a minor in Political
  diate term, the U.S. should dramatically increase        Science. His primary interests include American
  its commitment to relocate Afghan refugees, be-          foreign policy, Great-Power Competition, and
  yond just those who aided in military operations.        hybrid warfare.
  While this will ease the burden on its European
  allies, the U.S. can also provide funding to other
  neighbours of Afghanistan, namely Uzbekistan,
  Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan to house refugees.
  In the future, America must avoid the temptation
  to arm Taliban opposition. Afterall, it was Ameri-
  ca’s indirect meddling during the Soviet-Afghan
  War that eventually gave rise to the Taliban and al
  Qaeda. However, internalizing this shift in inter-
  ventionist philosophy will be a challenge in itself.

8 Global Conversations Fall 2021
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
Cracks in the foundation: trouble with the
 American electoral administration
 BY ELLIOT SIMPSON | NORTH AMERICAN AFFAIRS

 I N April 2021, just as the news cycle was         Six months and seven million dollars later,
                                                   Cyber Ninjas could not find any fraud or
 moving on from America’s 2020 federal
                                                   other reasons to overturn Joe Biden’s win in
 election, the Arizona State Senate hired tech
                                                   Maricopa County. In the hearing held after-
 firm Cyber Ninjas to carry out an audit on
                                                   ward to assess the audit, Cyber Ninjas’ CEO,
 the results in Maricopa County. For refer-
                                                   Doug Logan, was invited to defend his firm’s
 ence: Maricopa County is thefourth-largest
                                                   handling of the audit. He declined, not will-
 county in the nation, Cyber Ninjas had no
                                                   ing to do so under oath. The election results
 previous experience auditing federal elec-
                                                   have been upheld in over 60 separate court
 tions, and the sources funding this audit
                                                   cases, and America’s electoral machinery has
 remain murky.
                                                   held firm. But will the system hold in 2024?
 The conversation about voting in the United
 States, and the headlines thatsell the con-       THE FUTURE THREAT TO ELEC-
 versation, focus on the availability of polling   TORAL INTEGRITY
 stations, voter suppression, and gerryman-
 dering. These are all worthy of attention and     The Constitution gives states much latitude
 symptomatic of democratic backsliding. But        in how they administer elections. Subse-              PHOTO SOURCE: FOREIGN AFFAIRS MAGAZINE

 the more insidious threat is that many of the     quently, election oversight varies greatly
 election officials that upheld the results and    across the country but has generally re-
 Joe Biden’s subsequent win risk being re-         mained outside of the national conversa-
 placed before the next election.                  tion. This is because it has always been seen
                                                   as above reproach and so fundamental to
                                                   American democracy that, by norm, it has
    But will the system hold in                    remained apolitical and non-partisan.
               2024?                               For many Democrats, the fear is that Republican
                                                   statehouses are restricting efforts to “get out the

9 Global Conversations Fall 2021
GLOBAL CONVERSATIONS FALL 2021 ISSUE
vote” to limit turnout. These fears are                In an interview with The Economist, Auburn Uni-
    well-founded: as of March 2021, 250 laws               versity’s Kathleen Hale, who trains and certifies
    have been proposed in 43 states to restrict            election officials across America, affirmed that the
    voting by mail and even early- and elec-               2020 Election was a resounding administrative
    tion-day voting. As such, the majority of              success. Election officials, she says, were asked
    Democrats’ efforts to push back in Congress            to “build the machine while they were flying it,”
    have focused on fighting against this perfidi-         citing the exceptional challenge they faced in
    ous effort to suppress the vote. This effort           running a pandemic election and then during
    includes the current fight in Texas, where             subsequent audits and recounts. However, Hale
    the Justice Department has sued Texas over             worries that these same officials are receiving
    its new voting law, which allegedly violates           death threats from individuals wishing to over-
    civil rights and limits voting access unfairly         turn the election.
    other groups in Afghanistan like Islamic State
    Islamic-Khorasan (ISK) — the group responsible         Other officials have seen their faces taken from
    for the August 26 bombing at the Kabul airport —       their office website and posted on social media
    are sworn enemies with the Taliban.                    in the crosshairs of a gun, while others have had
                                                           protesters picketing outside their house. While
                                                           some officials are being replaced, others are too
                America is very                            traumatized to work the next election. In Mich-
               narrowly divided,                           igan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and elsewhere,
                                                           election officials are quitting or retiring early.
              and it can no longer
                 rely on norms                             Secretaries of state have significant sway and
                                                           control over how elections are administered and
               such as the losing                          how votes are counted – and races to this import-
             candidate conceding                           ant office are underway in several key states. Of
                                                           the 15 Republican candidates for secretary of state
          or the certification of votes                    in five battleground states, ten have declared that
                                                           the 2020 election was stolen, or else have called
          being an apolitical process.                     for further investigation.Worryingly, only two
                                                           believe that Biden won the election fairly.
    While any effort to disenfranchise voters is
    worthy of outrage, political scientists are unsure     In Georgia, current Secretary of State Ben
    whether such voter suppression laws have any ef-       Raffensperger famously denied President Trump’s
    fect. For instance, a recent study by the Quarterly    request to “find” him 11,780 votes, facing so much
    Journal of Economics found that voter ID               backlash and threats that he and his family had
    complaints of “selective disenfranchisement,”          to go into hiding temporarily. He will face Jody
    have little to no negative effect on voter registra-   Hice in next year’s race for secretary of state. This
    tion or turnout.                                       man famously tweeted “This is our 1776 moment,”
                                                           regarding the American Revolution on January
    This battle being waged is an important one, and       6, 2020, just before the Capitol Hill riots. Indeed,
    many aspects of it grab headlines and hold the         most of Hice’s campaign for secretary of state
    public’s attention. But at the same time, it diverts   is based on his belief that the 2020 election was
    attention away from the more granular aspects          fraudulent. As of today, he is seen as the frontrun-
    of election administration that are likely to have     ner ahead of Raffensperger, more than doubling
    more effect when Americans return to the polls.        his fundraising total.

                                                           Secretary of state races in Arizona and Michigan,
    AFTERMATH OF THE 2020 ELECTION                         both vital swing states, are being run on similar
                                                           themes with prominent and sometimes leading
                                                           candidates running on a “Stop the Steal” ticket.

10 Global Conversations Fall 2021
This is happening at all levels of election
 administration. For example, in Michigan,
 Republicans are trying to replace canvassers
 and other election officials with candidates                                     ELLIOT
 who believe Joe Biden stole the election.                                        SIMPSON
 MOVING FORWARD

 The battle is also playing out at the legislative lev-   Elliott is a second-year student at the Munk
 el – as Republican states have passed laws making        School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at
 it easier to find, prosecute, or replace election        the University of Toronto. He graduated from the
 officials. On top of the death threats many elec-        University of Edinburgh in 2016. Then worked
 tion officials have received for upholding the
                                                          with Deloitte Canada’s Public Sector Transfor-
 2020 results, this has made the job unpalatable
                                                          mation Team. In 2019, Elliott joined the team at
 for some. Job vacancies for local election officials
                                                          Ritual and launched the app in Montreal. He has
 abound, opening the door for some to take the
 job who, rather than seeing it as an apolitical role     worked in several industries including telecom-
 as it has always been, may use it as an opportunity      munications and marketing, and spent some time
 to swing results towards their candidate.                consulting within the Scottish Parliament. El-
                                                          liott’s interests lie mostly in the sphere of global
                                                          security, and defence – and he has been condi-
 America is very narrowly divided, and it can no          tionally accepted to the Royal Canadian Navy
 longer rely on norms such as the losing candidate        reserve unit at HMCS York.
 conceding or the certification of votes being an
 apolitical process. The process by which America
 votes, and counts these votes, did not collapse in
 2020 – but the guardrails now seem shaky. While
 voters have rarely had to worry or even think
 about electoral administration, with it shifting
 into the political realm, this now seems strangely
 naïve.

 Donald Trump has begun to hold rallies for the
 2024 election, broadcasting the same lie about his
 stolen victory to anyone who will listen. It is clear
 that Americans interested in maintaining free and
 fair elections need to look at who is able to vote,
 but in the end it may be who counts the votes
 that really matters.

11 Global Conversations Fall 2021
The collapse of global democracy and
  Canada’s role in saving it
  BY THOMAS CHAN | CANADA AND THE WORLD

  I N their 2021 annual Freedom in the World        CANADA’S DEMOCRACY GROWS
  report, Freedom House, a non-profit re-           STRONGER AS THE WORLD
  search and advocacy organisation focused          WEAKENS
  on democracy, political freedom, and human
  rights, outlined a worrisome trend for glob-      Despite these global trends towards demo-
  al civil liberties. For the fifteenth consecu-    cratic decline, Canada has remained as one
  tive year in a row, the global state of liberal   of the strongest democracies in the world
  democracy and political freedom has deteri-       (behind only Finland, Norway, Sweden, and
  orated.Nearly three quarters of the world’s       New Zealand). With strong democratic insti-
  population, almost six billion people, live in    tutions, norms, and values in place to sustain
  a territory that has experienced some lev-        political freedoms, Canada is well suited to
  el of erosion of democratic values, norms,        serve as a champion for sustainable democ-
  or systems in the past year. Democracy’s          racy for the world. Canada’s political leader-
  ability to guarantee the political rights and     ship has signalled their intent to bolster the
  representation of its citizens has weakened,      promotion of democracy and human rights
  public trust in institutions is dwindling, and    abroad. Since remarking that Canada was
  authoritarian actors are gaining power and        “back” on the world stage after first taking
  influence. States once considered to be pro-      office in 2015, Prime Minister Justin
  gressing towards becoming politically “free,”     Trudeau’s foreign policy has prioritized giv-
                                                                                                     PHOTO SOURCE: BBC WORLD NEWS

  including Russia, Hungary, and Myanmar,           ing Canada a more prominent role in inter-
  are returning to authoritarian tendencies.        national affairs. Becoming a champion for
  Autocratic leaders have also taken advantage      democracy and political freedom would serve
  of COVID-19 to consolidate power via emer-        as a noble foreign policy pillar for Canada,
  gency decrees that limit public gatherings,       and one that if executed properly, could re-
  free movement, and increase surveillance,         turn it to the prominent role of an effective
  often under the initial guises of public          international player it has long sought to be.
  health measures.

12 Global Conversations Fall 2021
Since the end of the Second World War,                 the utility of democracies in the 21st century
 successive Canadian governments have                   and autocracies,” Canada’s democracy pro-
 consistently underlined the importance of              motion could be an effective way to increase
 promoting democracy abroad as part of their            its status as an influential middle power.
 foreign policy agenda. Support for democ-
 racy has also been codified into some of               Canada’s commitment to strengthening democ-
 Canada’s multilateral commitments, such as             racy abroad could be pursued through multiple
 the Charter of the Organisation of American            pathways. Supporting free and fair elections
 States and the North Atlantic (NATO) Treaty.           are but one component of strong democracies,
 Likewise, promoting democratic governance              and Canada must therefore focus on supporting
 has been a significant policy goal across              aspects that underpin free and fair societies as
 many of Canada’s international efforts in              well, such as an empowered civil society, a free
 recent years, such as attempts to establish            press, and respect for minorities. Politically, Can-
 democratic institutions in Afghanistan, and            ada should provide clear and consistent support
 restore democracy in Venezuela through                 for those demanding human rights and political
 coordination within the Lima Group. These              freedom, while condemning or “express[ing] grave
 efforts have demonstrated Canada’s interest            concerns” for states and authorities that seek
 in strengthening democratic values, albeit             to impede democratic or violate human rights.
 with mixed success.                                    Investing in access to independent information
                                                        would be another method of official assistance,
                                                        such as by providing funds and training for
   Canada must recognize that it is                     independent media outlets and journalists while
                                                        decrying violations of press freedom.
         unable to reverse
        global democratic                               Canada’s ongoing support for political represen-
                                                        tation in Belarus through statements, significant
        backsliding alone.                              funding to civil society organisations, and target-
                                                        ed sanctions provides a roadmap for how foreign
 CANADA’S RENEWED SUPPORT FOR                           policy can prioritise strengthening democracy
                                                        abroad. Extending this aid to movements that
 STRENGTHENING DEMOCRACY
                                                        seek to expand civic participation, including
 ABROAD                                                 women’s rights, LGBTQ2, and ethnic and cultural
                                                        rights activist groups are additional ways of culti-
 Canada’s renewed support and advocacy for              vating an open society. Increasing federal funding
 liberal democracy abroad benefits larger strate-       for the International Development Research Cen-
 gic goals. In defending democratic values and          tre (IDRC) would be a straightforward method to
 systems abroad, Canada would be supporting             achieve these goals. Additionally, requiring dem-
 groups, movements, and states that share similar       ocratic progress as a condition for development
 values, such as commitments to human rights            assistance and support could reinforce the need
 and the rule of law. For proponents of the demo-       for concrete actions that support democracy
 cratic peace theory, the prevalence of democratic      and civil society in developing countries. Indeed,
 powers would result in international stability, less   the latest Trudeau government committed to
 conflict, and greater prosperity, thus strengthen-     many of these actions under its party platform
 ing the rules-based liberal international order        during the recent federal election.
 that has prevailed since the end of the Second
 World War. Stronger support for democracy              In pursuing democratic initiatives abroad, Canada
 could be an opportunity for Canada to take an          must also recognise the limits to what it can
 pivotal role on a global stage with increasing         achieve. On this critical point, three concerns
 tensions between democracies and non-democra-          are apparent. First, Canada should reflect on the
 cies. In this era-shaping divide, one that American    costs involved. While funding civil society and
 President Joe Biden has deemed “a battle be-           election monitoring initiatives are relatively low
 tween the utility of democracies in the between        cost and low risk avenues for change, strategies

13 Global Conversations Fall 2021
with higher risks and greater resources, such as
  military intervention, should be avoided in virtu-
  ally all instances. The mixed outcomes of using
  direct intervention to impose democracy, as op-
                                                                              THOMAS
  posed to bottom-up approaches, have shown the                               CHAN
  need to better involve local communities and
  populations in the processes of democratic tran-
  sition.
                                                         Thomas is a first-year student in the Master of
  Second, tensions between domestic and inter-
                                                         Global Affairs program at the Munk School of
  national interests must be considered. Canada’s
  political leadership will have to make difficult yet   Global Affairs and Public Policy. He completed
  pragmatic choices on deciding whether to en-           his undergraduate degree in Conflict Studies and
  courage democracy in certain regions, especially       Human Rights from the University of Ottawa.
  if it engenders economic, security, or geopolitical    Prior to Munk, Thomas worked across the federal
  concerns. On this point, it is lamentably conceiv-     government, including at Global Affairs Cana-
  able that a government would (and perhaps in           da, Environment and Climate Change Canada,
  some cases should) choose to prioritise maintain-      and the Canadian Human Rights Commission.
  ing diplomatic and trade relations over encour-        Thomas also served as a political staff member for
  aging democratic reforms or protecting human           a federal cabinet minister. His research interests
  rights. In addition to larger geopolitical tensions,   include Canadian foreign policy, diplomacy, press
  this reasoning could in part explain the non-con-      freedom, human rights, climate change, and secu-
  frontational support offered by Canada and its         rity.
  peers to the recent pro-democracy movements in
  Hong Kong.

  Third, Canada must recognise that it is unable
  to reverse global democratic backsliding alone.
  Ensuring that ideological allies are willing to also
  promote their shared values will be a necessity
  moving forward. Despite emerging challenges
  such as a contentious guest list, the Summit for
  Democracy set to be hosted by the United States
  in December 2021 will hopefully result in a com-
  mitted multilateral action towards revitalising
  democracy worldwide.

14 Global Conversations Fall 2021
The great (un)equalizer: The fading illusion
  of equality
  BY SARA DUODU | GENDER & IDENTITY POLITICS

  E ARLY in the COVID-19 pandemic, many            the United States but also around the globe,
                                                   in the fight for racial equality. However,
  politicians, news organizations, and celeb-
                                                   when further interrogating the outcomes
  rities touted the virus as being the “great
                                                   of the 2020 protests, it is difficult to deter-
  equalizer.” The argument was that since the
                                                   mine whether they had an entirely positive
  effects of both COVID-19 and the pandemic
                                                   effect. With the rise of support for the BLM
  did not discriminate based on age, gender,
                                                   movement, also came more vocal support for
  race, sexual orientation, etc., it would be
                                                   alternate movements such as All Lives Matter
  the beginning of a global cultural reset. Yet,
                                                   and Blue Lives Matter. A 2020 Opinium poll
  inequality continues to persist today and the
                                                   found that 55% of adults in the UK believe
  chasms between groups continue to widen
                                                   that the BLM movement has increased racial
  across the globe. As the weeks turned into
                                                   tensions while 44% of ethnic minorities felt
  months, COVID-19 did very little to level
                                                   the same.
  the playing field, instead exposing and ex-
  asperating deep divides that have long lay
                                                   This movement has not increased racial tensions
  dormant. The “great equalizer” seems to have
                                                   but has brought them to the forefront of public
  left more problems than solutions and soci-
                                                   attention. Black people were not the only ones
  eties across the globe are more divided than
                                                   who faced increased discrimination during 2020.
  they have ever been.
                                                   People of Asian descent around the globe experi-
                                                   enced increased incidents of racial discrimination
  COVID-19 AND GLOBAL
                                                                                                        PHOTO SOURCE: DAZED DIGITAL

                                                   and violence as a result of misconceptions about
  INEQUALITY                                       the COVID-19 virus. People were quick to revert
                                                   to racial stereotypes in the face of the unknown,
  On the surface, the Black Lives Matter (BLM)     demonstrating that the “equality” that has been
  movement appears to be a COVID-19 success        the standard for so long was really no more than
  story. The murder of George Floyd while in       an illusion.
  police custody galvanized people not just in

15 Global Conversations Fall 2021
COVID-19 deepened                            leading them to not seek out testing or treat-
                                                         ment in formal health care institutions.
               existing divisions
             and created a strong                        THE DEEPENING OF EXISTING
            binary along political                       DIVISIONS

            lines across the globe.                      This is not to say that COVID-19 is the root
                                                         cause of all of these social and political issues.
  In addition to increased incidences of racial dis-     While the world has made strides in the fight
  crimination across the globe, the last 20 months       for equality, there was always a long way to go,
  has seen further entrenchment of discriminatory        and it was only on the surface that equality/
  policies. The Polish government has continued          tolerance existed. The reality has always been
  to crack down on LGBTQ+ and women’s rights,            that there have been segments of even the
  ignoring cries from their own citizens and the         most progressive of societies that have held
  European Union (EU) against these repressive           unsavoury views about gender, sexual orien-
  policies. Protests have erupted across Poland and      tation, and race. COVID-19 deepened existing
  there has been public backlash against the LGBT-       divisions and created a strong binary along
  free zones in certain regions of the country. De-      political lines across the globe.
  spite the backlash, there are many supporters of
  this government, emboldened by the more overt          The deep and ever-growing divisions between
  support for broader oppressive policies across         the
  the globe. In the United States, Texas and Georgia     right and the left about COVID-19 policies,
  have passed regressive abortion laws and voting        such as masking and vaccines, has been an
  rights’ acts, respectively, putting decades of         extension of the growing extremism across
  progress at risk. It would be easy to pass these       the globe in the half-decade that preceded
  incidents off as the actions of rogue actors and       it, culminating in these seemingly irreconcil-
  uncommon occurrences, but the reality is that          able differences. It also did not help that most
  there is a marked uptick in these kinds of policies    countries retreated into nationalism as a result
  in countries that have, to date, made considerable     of the pandemic, creating an environment that
  progress towards equality.                             favoured homogeneity, centred around nation-
                                                         al identity. The “great equalizer” has not yet
                                                         led to greater equality and based on the trends
  Not only have minorities found themselves the          since the pandemic began, has served more as
  active targets of certain social groups and poli-      a foundation for greater divisions and regres-
  ticians, but they have also felt the effects of the    sion into a world where only certain kinds of
  pandemic disproportionately. During the pan-           people are valued.
  demic, women have taken on a larger burden of
  unpaid care work, they have seen increased inci-       REBUILDING FOR A BETTER FU-
  dences of gender-based violence, and according
                                                         TURE
  to estimates from McKinsey, job losses for women
  as a result of the pandemic were 1.8 times higher
                                                         Despite these concerning trends and the
  than those for men. Racialized communities were
                                                         seemingly bleak outlook, there is still hope for
  more likely to get infected with COVID-19 due
                                                         a better, more equal world. There are many
  to a number of factors including their jobs on
                                                         challenges that countries face that require
  the frontlines, their housing situations, and their
                                                         considerable attention, but it is imperative that
  access to healthcare, to name a few. Finally, a
                                                         the international community does not sideline
  study showed that 30.2% of LGBTQ+ people in
                                                         the fight for equality. It is no longer sufficient
  the United States lost their jobs as a result of the
                                                         for the international community to condemn
  pandemic and due to historical trends, are less
                                                         these developments without any real action.
  trusting of health care professionals potentially

16 Global Conversations Fall 2021
The EU’s consideration of withholding billions
    from Poland is a small step towards more tangible
    punishments for states and actors who do not
    uphold their commitments to democratic ideals                                SARA
    and equality. Without proof of any real punish-                              DUODU
    ment for backsliding, there no longer exists any
    real incentive for these more right-wing politi-
    cians to maintain this illusion of equality. While
    COVID-19 itself may not have been the “great
    equalizer,” it has put plainly in front of us
                                                           Sara is a first year student in the Master of
    some of the divisions that we have taken for
    granted. By exposing these fissures, we have the       Global Affairs program at the University of Toron-
    opportunity to get to the root of the issue and        to. She completed her undergraduate degree at
    create the world in which we thought we were           the University of Western Ontario in History and
    already living; however, if left to fester, we might   Political Science. She also completed a master’s
    reach a point of irreparable division.                 degree at the University of Western Ontario in
                                                           History, specifically focusing on how race was
                                                           framed in early 20th century American newspa-
                                                           pers. As an undergrad, she was a research assis-
                                                           tant for the co-chair of the Consortium on Elec-
                                                           toral Democracy and published a paper in the
                                                           undergraduate International Affairs journal
                                                           about Turkey and the challenges of EU accession.
                                                           In her summers, she worked at the Bank of Mon-
                                                           treal in Information Security and most recently,
                                                           the Private Wealth digital team. Sara’s interests
                                                           include the intersection of divisive media and
                                                           race, the role of social media in social movements,
                                                           and digital capacity building in the Global South

17 Global Conversations Fall 2021
Next exit: the great filter

  BY SARAH WHELAN | OUTER SPACE

  T HE vast expanse of history between noth-             Robin Hansen of the Future of Humanity
                                                         Institute postulates the existence of a “Great
  ing and everything – accounting for the past
                                                         Filter:” some barrier through which no life
  13.8 billion years – has seemingly only pro-
                                                         has passed before. Analogous is the radio-si-
  duced us, homo sapiens, to stand in awe of
                                                         lence observed throughout the universe.
  it all. Why is that? As physicist and Nobel
                                                         Does this Great Filter lie in our future, and
  laureate Enrico Fermi famously asked in the
                                                         what may it look like? Stephen Hawking sug-
  1950s, “Where are they?”
                                                         gested in his final book, Brief Answers to the
                                                         Big Questions, that an asteroid collision may
  Scientists estimate that there are 200 quadrillion
                                                         be the biggest threat to planetary, and hence
  stars in the observable universe dispersed within
                                                         human, long-term survival.
  200 trillion galaxies. So immense is this scale that
  it becomes hard for the human mind to grasp.
  Our solar system is but a blip in the Milky Way              There are two solutions
  galaxy. Truly, where is everyone else? The Fermi
  Paradox, credited to Enrico Fermi, arises out of              to the Fermi Paradox:
  this observation: so much opportunity for life,                   either everyone
  but so little life. Is our planet, and our species,
  really so special as to have been the only planet              never existed and we
  to foster an environment suitable for abiogenesis               are indeed the first
  to occur – the process through which life arises
  from nonliving matter – and for life to evolve and                and only, or, put
                                                                                                          PHOTO SOURCE: SETI.ORG

  thrive? There are two solutions to the Fermi
  Paradox: either everyone never existed and we are
                                                                   frankly, everyone
  indeed the first and only, or, put frankly, everyone           else is already gone.
  else is already gone.
                                                         But what other existential threats are lurk-
  WHAT IS THE GREAT FILTER?                              ing – dangers that could be humanity’s Great

18 Global Conversations Fall 2021
Filter? Climate change, weaponized biotech-
  nology, rogue particle physics experiments,
                                                                      The exploration and
  and artificial intelligence all pose risks to                        use of outer space
  humanity’s continued existence. We all
  know how the saying goes: “don’t put all
                                                                      shall be carried out
  your eggs in one basket.” Humankind are the                         for the benefit … of
  eggs; the basket is our Pale Blue Dot. Where
  do we go from here? How can humanity                                  all humankind.
  ensure its continued presence in the uni-
  verse in the face of the lurking collapse of all        -ssing this realm is necessary for ensuring a
  we’ve ever known?                                       peaceful transition to becoming inter-planetary,
                                                          though challenges to achieving this end may arise
  The Kardashev scale, proposed by Soviet astrono-        from the current “crisis of multilateralism.” To no
  mer Nikolai Kardashev, is a method of measuring         surprise, lunar competition has arisen between
  a civilization’s level of technological advancement.    the United States and a China-Russia partner-
  Robert Zubrin has adapted the scale to reflect          ship. Both are wrestling to recruit states in hopes
  how widespread a civilization is in space; climb-       of forming a global coalition, with plans to con-
  ing the ranks of this adapted scale indicates galac-    struct a lunar base at the moon’s south pole.
  tic exploration by humans. Extraterrestrial settle-     Division between space actors may sow healthy
  ments present a solution to humanity’s current          competition, but we should be wary of, and plan
  Earth-bound predicament. But simultaneously,            accordingly for, disputes that result in military
  they present extreme technological, legal, and          conflict.
  ethical challenges.
                                                          WHO WILL LEAD US FORWARD?
  THE CHALLENGES OF
  EXTRATERRESTRIAL EXPLORATION                            Zooming in from the macro, state level to a finer scale
                                                          – a scale of the individual – it becomes natural to ask
  “The exploration and use of outer space shall           who these individuals at the forefront of advancing
  be carried out for the benefit … of all [human]         humanity to the final frontier will be. Pondering this
  kind; outer space is not subject to national ap-        idea may lead one to look to studies of intersectionality
  propriation by claim of sovereignty; astronauts         and feminist technoscience and what has been learned
  shall be regarded as the envoys of [human]kind,”        about the importance of identity representation. Those
  proclaims the United Nations Outer Space Treaty,        at the helm of transforming humanity into a spacefaring
  signed in 1967. Christopher Johnson, space law          society should reflect society itself. Efforts in achieving
  advisor for the Secure World Foundation cited           this end are reflected in the subunits of UN COPUOS:
  the treaty as the “most important and most fun-         Access to Space For All, Space for Persons with Dis-
  damental source of international space law.” An         abilities, Space4Women, and Space4Youth. One can
  uptick in space activity has sparked debate on the      hope that these are more than token projects and that
  need for updated governance of outerspace. As           the voices uplifted through these initiatives will visibly
  humanity looks to the final frontier, it is impera-     shape the plans and policies of the global space agenda.
  tive to critically reflect on the destruction coloni-
  zation inflicted on native peoples and native lands     As Josh Clark has said, “The responsibility for our own
  worldwide, acknowledging that “those who forget         lives, for the future of the human race, rests solely in
  their history are condemned to repeat it.”              the hands of those of us alive today … If we [go], so
                                                          [too do] all the things that make us human.” In other
  At the helm of this effort is The United Nations        words, we are all we’ve got.
  Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outerspace
  (COPUOS), convening annually to review scien-
  tific and technical space-related advancements
  as well as legal issues surrounding space-based
  activity. Currently lacking is an overseeing of
  spaced-based military activity. An agenda addre-

19 Global Conversations Fall 2021
SARAH
                         WHELAN

    Sarah is a first year student in the Master of
    Global Affairs program. She completed her un-
    dergraduate degree in Software Engineering at
    Western University in 2019. During her time at
    Western, Sarah worked as a Program Coordinator
    in Engineering Outreach where she focused on
    increasing diversity in the profession by engaging
    groups typically underrepresented in STEM. Be-
    fore starting her Master’s, Sarah worked at vari-
    ous technology startups in Toronto with focuses
    on blockchain, quantum computing, and materi-
    als design. At Munk, she is interested in exploring
    sociopolitical and intersectional perspectives to
    global development and critically examining the
    ways in which technology is often thought of as
    a panacea. Sarah is also a Venture for Canada
    fellow.

20 Global Conversations Fall 2021
(Un)fair shot: The alarming failure of
 COVAX
 BY FATEMA DIWAN | GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT

 O N March 11, 2020, all eyes were on the             all income groups.
 WHO as it declared COVID-19 a global pan-
 demic and announced that we were “all in                 High income countries
 it together.” Since everyone was vulnerable,
 both collective action and cooperation was            that comprise only 16% of the
 needed now more than ever. In a way, it was          world’s population grabbed al-
 the day of reckoning of multilateralism built
 over decades. Over the next few months,                   most 50% of all doses.
 as borders tightened, supply chains broke,
 deaths increased, and the world isolated, it         The speed of the COVID-19 vaccine devel-
 was evident that our collective recovery             opment was only outdone by the speed with
 depended on ensuring every person, every-            which rich countries booked up the avail-
 where is protected. We didn’t just need a            able stocks. As per a report by the People’s
 vaccine, we needed vaccine equality.                 Vaccine Alliance, high-income countries that
                                                      comprise only 16% of the world’s population
 THE COVAX EFFORT TO                                  grabbed almost 50% of all doses. High-in-
 VACCINATE THE WORLD                                  come countries were able to pre-book stocks
                                                      while low-income countries put in their first
 GAVI, a public-private alliance that since 2000      orders almost eight months after the former
 had been working behind-the-scenes towards           had made its deals. Major vaccine manufac-
 increasing immunization access for children in       turers delivered 47 times as many doses to
                                                                                                      PHOTO SOURCE: ABC NEWS

 lower-income countries against several diseas-       high-income countries compared to low-in-
 es, sprung to the forefront. In April 2020, just a   come countries. Moderna alone has delivered
 month into the pandemic, it announced COVAX          84% of its doses to high-income countries.
 – an international effort to ensure vaccine tech-    For the pandemic to end, 70% of the world’s
 nologies are equitably shared and vaccines, when     population needs to be one-dose vaccinated.
 developed, reach everyone in every country across    As of today, 51.6% of the world’s population

21 Global Conversations Fall 2021
has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Only   donate their leftover or unused supplies. This
  4.5% of those are from low-income countries.          didn’t work out well either. Countries started to
                                                        throw out soonto-be-expired vaccines at poor-
  GAVI and the UN foresaw this massive vaccine          er nations. COVAX has a two-months-to-expiry
  inequality right at the start. Then, why couldn’t     clause and countries in the Global South often
  they prevent it?                                      lack the resources for speedy and effective vac-
                                                        cine distribution. As such, many countries are
  COVAX SHORTCOMINGS                                    unable to efficiently use the soon-to-be expired
                                                        vaccines. Just last month, Haiti had to send back
  COVAX stumbled at multiple levels. First, it          500,000 doses donated by the US because they
  wasn’t clear about its role. COVAX wasn’t a           couldn’t be administered before its expiry date.
  platform for vaccine distribution, but rather a
  collaborative effort to research, manufacture,        Second, it failed to empower lower-income coun-
  negotiate pricing, and distribute vaccines. Under     tries to battle the right to access or knowledge
  COVAX, every country regardless of its ability to     transfers. Perhaps naively, COVAX relied a little
  pay, would be an equal stakeholder of the vaccine     too much on the cooperation and generosity of
  program.                                              rich countries. Vaccine equality wasn’t just a ques-
                                                        tion of distribution but access. Lower-income
  Self-financing or higher income countries would       countries cannot hope to have equal access if all
  pool money to purchase and donate vaccines            the approved vaccines come from higher-income
  through the COVAX facility. COVAX would use           countries. (AstraZeneca manufactured by India’s
  this collective purchasing power to negotiate         Serum institute was a lucky exception and ended
  prices with manufacturers; thus, ensuring prices      up being the largest contributor to the program.)
  stayed reasonable and lower-income countries          COVAX paid little to no attention to knowledge
  weren’t left out. Moreover, while self-financing      transfers, building manufacturing capabilities
  countries could ask for more doses, they would        or even confronting vaccine patents – steps that
  receive it only once 20% of the population across     would’ve built capacities of lower-income coun-
  all countries had received their first shots. The     tries instead of leaving them at the mercy of
  goal was equality.                                    others.

  What happened next was anticlimactic. Wealthier       Lastly and most importantly, it failed to demand
  countries showed ‘interest’ in the program but        accountability. Member countries have failed to
  went on to strike individual deals with manufac-      keep up with their pledges, from funding to
  turers, increasing competition, and hiking prices     vaccine distribution. Out of 1.8 billion vaccines
  for COVAX and other lower-income countries.           promised, as of October 2021, only 261 million
  Vaccines were hoarded at a massive scale even         doses had been delivered. It also faces a huge
  while in many countries, frontline workers them-      funding gap of $6.4 billion in 2021 despite initial
  selves struggled to get the shot. According to        funding commitments.
  PVA,100 million doses in G7 countries are set to
  expire at the end of 2021 and over 800 million will   COVAX is still trying to meet its agenda, but
  be wasted by mid-2022.                                across countries is largely being seen as a failed
                                                        initiative. So far, it has shipped only 435 million
                                                        doses, a far cry from its goal of delivering 2 billion
             Many countries are                         doses by the end of 2021.
             unable to efficiently
                                                        MOVING FORWARD
              use the soon-to-be
              expired vaccines.                         The failure of COVAX is an alarming signal not
                                                        just for the failure of multilateral institutions but
                                                        also for our collective response to the climate
  Seeing a surge in prices and dwindling commit-        emergency. Failures are also lessons and we can-
  ments by rich countries, COVAX turned from            not afford to ignore this one. Multilateral organi-
  financing vaccine equality to urging countries to

22 Global Conversations Fall 2021
-sations need to push beyond being limited to
   service delivery and funding bodies to being plat-
   forms for collaboration, cooperation, and knowl-
   edge transfer. This means speaking up against                               FATEMA
   self-interested policies, enforcing accountability,                         DIWAN
   and demanding solid commitments from high-
   er-income countries amongst many others. Just
   like COVID-19, climate change is affecting low-
   er-income countries disproportionately. A CO-
                                                         Fatema is a first-year student in the Master of
   VAX-like response would be disastrous.
                                                         Global Affairs program at the Munk School of
                                                         Global Affairs and Public Policy. She has an un-
                                                         dergraduate degree in Journalism and a postgrad-
                                                         uate degree in Literature. Prior to joining Munk,
                                                         she spent 4 years consulting and working with
                                                         nonprofits in India. She has worked on various
                                                         rights-based campaigns for Amnesty Internation-
                                                         al India, consulted on digital strategy for Mé-
                                                         decins Sans Frontières (MSF) India, and executed
                                                         a narrative change and advocacy campaign on
                                                         adolescent health rights.

23 Global Conversations Fall 2021
The collapse of Haiti and the inadequate
 American response
 BY CHRISTIE MA | MIGRATION

 H AITI is undergoing a humanitarian crisis.       opportunities. However, migrants have con-
                                                   tinued to make their way north due to immi-
 Recent political and natural disasters have
                                                   gration restrictions and economic downturns
 prompted thousands to flee their homes
                                                   in previously attractive destinations, such as
 in search of a better life. But despite the
                                                   Chile and Brazil. As a result, Haitians travel
 chronic poverty and sociopolitical instability,
                                                   through South America to reach the United
 President Joe Biden has expelled thousands
                                                   States, which is seen as a safe and secure
 of Haitians back to their home country.
                                                   country with vast economic opportunity.
 Biden previously promised a more humane
 approach towards American immigration
 policies but has failed to live up to his         The recent assassination of Haitian Presi-
 commitment. Instead, he further destabilized      dent Jovenel Moise in July of 2021 was fol-
 the Haitian crisis.                               lowed by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake that

                                                                                                    PHOTO SOURCE: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, FIBONACCI BLUE
                                                   struck the country a month later, killing over
                                                   2,000 people. Both events will likely prompt
 WHY ARE HAITIANS MIGRATING TO                     more migration. As climate change leads to
 THE UNITED STATES?                                an increasing number of extreme weather
                                                   hazards, such as hurricanes, flooding, and
 The current number of migrants attempt-           landslides, the U.S. should expect to see a
 ing to cross the U.S–Mexico border is the         growing number of migrants and refugees.
 highest in 21 years, but Haitians have been
 attempting to enter the United States for
                                                   THE UNITED STATES-MEXICO
 decades. Many left their home country years
 ago due to the country’s chronic instability      BORDER
 fueled by corruption, poverty, and violence.
 Since the 7.0 magnitude earthquake in             The majority of Haitian migrants travel
 2010, over 1.5 million people were left home-     through South and Central America to get to
 less, prompting many to migrate to neigh-         the Rio Grande Valley border in Texas be-
 bouring countries in South America for job        cause rumours claim it is an easy place to

24 Global Conversations Fall 2021
cross the border. In just one week of September        contrasts thehumane immigration system it
  2021, over 10,000 Haitian migrants camped out          promised during the election. Instead, there has
  along the Del Rio border under scorching heat          been mass deportation of Haitians, forcing them
  with little access to food, water, or sanitation. By   back to a crisis-ridden country.
  September 24, 2021, federal authorities cleared
  an encampment that housed up to 15,000 Haitian         THE PUBLIC RESPONSE
  migrants. U.S. border services deported 2,000
  migrants using chartered flights, while 8,000 will-    There has been outrage against the Biden admin-
  ingly returned to Mexico.                              istration as the reliance on Title 42 remains highly
                                                         controversial. Ambassador Daniel Foote, the for-
                                                         mer U.S. envoy for Haiti, resigned in September
     Over 150 human rights groups                        2021 to protest the mass deportation of Haitian
   have challenged Title 42, claiming                    migrants. He critiqued the American response
                                                         as “deeply flawed” and refused to “be associated
  its usage is inhumane, baseless, and                   with the United States’ inhumane, counterpro-
    in violation of U.S. immigration                     ductive decision to deport thousands of Haitian
                                                         refugees and illegal immigrants to Haiti.” Foote
                   laws                                  asserted that deportations are “not the answer”
                                                         and will only exacerbate the Haitian crisis.
  WHAT HAS BEEN THE AMERICAN
  RESPONSE?                                              Likewise, over 150 human rights groups have chal-
                                                         lenged Title 42, claiming its usage is inhumane,
  During the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden           baseless, and in violation of U.S. immigration
  stopped in Miami’s Little Haiti neighbourhood          laws. Senior legal advisers, including Harold Koh,
  and vowed, “I’ll give you my word as a Biden, I’ll     a legal adviser and Obama administration veteran,
  be there. I’ll stand with you.” However, he has        described the usage of Title 42 to expel migrants
  since sent dozens of Haitians on deportation           as “illegal” and “inhumane.” Leading public
  flights, totalling nearly 8,000 people. Most Hai-      health experts and academics share the advocacy
  tians were deported using the Title 42 policy, a       group’s concern. Since May 2020, public health
  public health rule enacted during the pandemic         leaders argued that Title 42 expulsions themselves
  that allows border services to turn asylum seekers     could pose a public health threat in light of the
  away at the border. A former Biden administration      COVID-19 pandemic, as people are grouped for
  official claims that Title 42 “was prioritized as a    days before deportation, heightening the risk of
  deterrence tool.” Officials used deportation flights   COVID-19 transmission across national borders.
  to break the cycle of Haitian migration to the U.S,    As a response, many have been calling for Presi-
  as the administration believed that deportees who      dent Biden to reverse the policy since he took
  shared their experiences after returning home          office in January 2021.
  would deter future migrants.
                                                         ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS
  On May 22, 2021, President Biden announced the
  18-month Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for          Former President Trump reversed decades-old
  Haitians. The relief program extended temporary        asylum policies that allowed for those who arrived
  protected status to Haitians who had arrived in        at the U.S. border with a credible fear of perse-
  the U.S. on or before May 21, 2021. This status al-    cution the right to enter the country and make a
  lows them to live and work without fear of depor-      formal asylum claim. Instead, the Trump adminis-
  tation. However, no such protection is available       tration barred asylum claims for nearly all mi-
  for the thousands of migrants who reached Del          grants from any country and continually lowered
  Rio in September.                                      the admissions ceiling every year. Lawmakers
                                                         have urged the Biden administration to restore
  Despite Biden’s promises during the 2020 elec-         previous asylum rules rooted in the Refugee Act
  tion,Haitian people feel abandoned. The current        of 1980 that enabled migrants to seek asylum as
  administration’s approach to border security           long as they can demonstrate a “well-founded

25 Global Conversations Fall 2021
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